Owners have filed 118 complaints on the Nissan Stanza, covering 1983–1992. The system named most often is Fuel System (54 reports). Worst years by volume: 1991, 1990, 1992; cleanest: 1983, 1984, 1985. 9 reports describe a crash, 14 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 8.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Nissan Stanza
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 118 Stanza complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Fuel System 54 Read
Fuel hose leak, causing fire
Fuel line leaked, causing engine fire
While driving heard a popping sound, pulled to side, noticed fog of gray smoke coming from under the hood, fire errupted, fire dept suspected fuel injectors as culprit
Engine And Engine Cooling 17 Read
The vehicle caught on fire
The vehicle caught on fire from the engine compartment. *ak
The contact owns a 1986 nissan stanza. As the contact parked her vehicle in the driveway, she noticed smoke underneath the hood. The engine compartment caught fire. The fire department extinguished the fire, but did not know what caused the failure because the engine was totally engulfed in flames and badly burned.…
Seat Belts 10 Read
Rear ended vehicle the automatic shoulder and lap belt did not secure front seat passenger. Tt
The passenger side automatic shoulder seat belt did not lock during rear impact
Seat belt failed to lock in place during an accident, causing driver to go forward striking windshield with head, resulting in an injury
Power Train 7 Read
Differential failed, causing loss of control/accident, also excessive tire wear
Transmission failed, causing vehicle to stall, also torque converter failed
Shift lever release button when depressed by five year old, overrode the interlock, allowing vehicle to shift into reverse, resultng in an accident/injury
Steering 6 Read
Power steering problems. Please describe. Tt
When driving vehicle would vibrate and a slight rubbing sound was heard. Contacted dealer, and he didn't see anything wrong. Slight leak in the transmission airlines, and zero ring distributor. Power steering unit shifted and the belt were coming off and pump is angled. Contacted another dealer and waiting for a call…
When driving vehicle would vibrate and a slight rubbing sound was heard. Contacted dealer, and didn't see anything wrong. Slight leak in the transmission airlines and zero ring distributor. Also, rear brake adjustment and bushing. Power steering unit shifted the belt was coming off and pump was angled. Contacted…
Electrical System 4 Read
Car was parked, saw smoke coming from the engine and fire started, took vehicle to dealer , the electrical wire harness had to be replaced . Please describe
Consumer started vehicle and it would not start. Consumer tried to restart and vehicle caught on fire. Fire caused total loss. Please provide any further information
Distributor cap loosened, causing vehicle to stall
Service Brakes 4 Read
When shifted from neutral to drive, vehicle took off at high speed, brakes applied, hit building, hood flew up
Driving at speed of 30mph, vehicle went into open throttle position, impact 12:00 position rpms unknown, lost control of vehicle, applied brakes and could not stop vehicle
Front and rear brake pads (shoes) replaced at least once a year/front rotors/rear wheel cylinders/failed emergency brake (lines?) causing brake problems
Structure 3 Read
During a rollover accident the doors flew open upon slightest impact to front corner on the driver's side, resulting in a fatality and injury
When putting bag in the truck the tension loaded trunk bars that hold the trunk, fell out and hit consumer in the face
Fracture in firewall, caused clutch cable to fail
Stanza years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Electrical System | 2 | 2 | |
| 1991 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 2 | |
| 1990 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 2 | |
| 1989 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | 1 | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | 4 | 2 | |
| 1986 | Electrical System | 1 | 4 | |
| 1985 | Exterior Lighting | — | 1 | |
| 1984 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — | |
| 1983 | Power Train | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 89 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 5 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 8.3 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 5. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Stanza?
By complaint volume, 1991, 1990, 1992 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Stanza years are the cleanest?
1983, 1984, 1985 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Nissan Stanza have?
118 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1983–1992. Of those, 9 describe a crash and 14 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.